Telephone-switch



(No Model.)

I J. P. MEHREN.

TELEPHONE SWITCH.

Patented Sept. 28, 1886.

. 1 I I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 L l I I l l 4 I I |L I minesses. $6M) suitable place near thetelephone-outfit.

NITED STATES JACOB F. MEHREN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TELEPHONE-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,947, dated September 28, 1886.

Application filed January 2, 1885. Serial No. 151,722. (No model.)

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB F. MEHREN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Iniprovements in Telephone-Switches, of which the following is a full and exact description.

My invention relates to a class of automatic switches now commonly in use, which are operated in one direction by the receiver when the latter is hung up afteruse, andinthe other by the action of a spring when the receiver is withdrawn.

The objects of my invention are to insure better and more reliable contacts, failure in this respect being a frequent annoyance in switches of various kinds, and to provide for easy and complete access to the various parts, in order to facilitate any needed repairs, heretofore it being customary to place the working portion of the switch, together with its connections, in the narrow and inaccessible confines of the telephone call'box, making it difficult for examination and repairs in case of failure. IVith these objects in view I proceed to describe my improved switch, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows a switch of the well-known hook-lever form, arranged in accordance with myinvention, the entire switch being mounted on the outside of a telephone call-box or other Fi 2 is a modification of the above. The receiy er, instead of being hooked on the lever, is held by a suitable rigid support and presses against the switch-lever.

In both figures the dotted lines show the switch held in a normal position by the receiver, and the solid lines the position when the receiver has been removed.

The duties of a telephone-switch being well understood, I do not show any wireconnections. The lever A, Fig. 1, is hinged into the support B, and has a suitable shape at one end to hold the receiver C. At about one-third the length of the lever A from its support B there is a metallic segment, D, which may be part of the lever-casting, or fastened rigidly to the lever. This segment 1) is in electrical con nection through the lever A with the support B, to which the required wire-connections are made. On the face or front of the segmentD there is a piece of hard non-conducting material, a, which is inserted into a groove in the said segment. Fig. 4 shows the face or front of the segment D. The contact-finger E is a narrow strip of spring metal rigidly fastened to the plate F, (to which any required wireconncctions are made,) by means of screws, and presses on the face of the segment DI The support B, into which the lever A is hinged, (a front and side view of support B are shown in Fig. 3,) has an opening, I), through which the extension 0 of the lever A passes. This opening I) limits the movements of the lever A, and may be of any size, according to the desired movement of the lever A.

The operation of the switch is as follows: The lever A is held in the position, as shown by the dotted lines, due to the weight of the receiver C, and the contact-finger E bears on the insulated portion of the segment D, thereby breaking electrical connection with the lever A and the support B. While the telephone is in use the lever A, being relieved of the "weight of the receiver 0, is raised to the position indicated by the solid lines, due to the pressure exerted by the contact-finger E, and the latter comes in contact with the metallic portion of the segment D, thus establishing electrical connection with the support B through the lever A. As described, the finger E acts as a contact-point, and also as a tensionspring to raise the lever. The advantage of this feature,aside from its simplicity, is thata com parativel y great pressure may be exerted by the said finger on the segment,for the purpose of insuring good electrical eontact,without increasing the upward pressure on the lever beyond the weight of the receiver, which latter is required to overcome said upward pressure. The reason for this is, supposing the tension of the finger to remain constant, then the greater the radius of the segment the less the upward pressure on the lever, and vice versa.

In the modification, Fig. 2, the lever A extends downward, and immediately underneath it is a suitable receiver-support, G, which is rigidly fastened in the position as shown. When the receiver C is off of its support G, the switch is in the position as shown by the solid lines, due to the tension of the finger E on the segment D. \Vhen the receiver C is placed on its support G, the lever A is moved v to and held in the position .as shown by the dotted lines, due to the weight of the receiver 0, against which the said lever A rests.

For various requirements there may be one or more non-conducting points, a, on the face of the segment D, as also one or more contactfingers, E.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure b Letters Patent, is

1. In atelephone-switch, the combination, with anarm or lever adapted to be moved in one direction by the placing of the receiver on its support, of a spring for moving said arm in the other direction, said arm and spring being included in the circuit, and said spring making and breaking electrical contact-with said arm as the same is moved, whereby the. circuitis made and broken, substantially as set forth.

2. In a telephone-switch, the combination, with a metal, arm orlever adapted to be moved in one direction by the placing of the receiver on its support, and having an insulating-section upon its surface, of a spring for moving said arm in the other direction,adapted to bear upon the metal portion of the arm in one position and upon the insulatingsection in the other,whereby the circuit is made and broken,

.. substantially as set forth.

3. In a telephone-switch, the combination.

/with an arm formed orprovided with a curved surface partly of metal and partly of insulat-v ing material, and adapted to be moved in one direction by the placing of the receiver on its support, of aspringfor moving said arm in the other direction; adapted to bear 11 p011 said metal portion in one position and upon said insulating portion in the other, whereby the circuit is made and broken, substantially as set forth.

4. In a telephone switeh, the combination,

with the telephone-box, of a metal-plate on Q the outsideof said box, a movable arm connected with said plate and adapted to be moved .by the receiver, and a spring attached also to the outside of said box bearing against said arm, and adapted to make and break electrical contact therewith, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 50 this 29th day of December, 1884.

JACOB F. MEHREN.

Vitnesses:

DAVID M. HYLAND, WILLIAM'CARRoLL. 

